After 341 yrs,British poet laureate is a woman

Announcing the decision,the culture secretary,Andy Burnham,called Duffy a towering figure in English literature today and a superb poet who has achieved something that only the true greats of literature manage to be regarded as both popular and profound.

Duffy told the BBC radio program Womans Hour that she had thought hard about accepting the post and that the decision to take it came purely because they hadnt had a woman. She added: I look on it as recognition of the great women poets we now have writing, and said that she hoped to use the job to contribute to peoples understanding of what poetry can do,and where it can be found.

Duffy,who has also written plays,and poems and stories for children,has a daughter,Ella. She had a relationship for some time with the Scottish poet Jackie Kay. In an interview with the writer Jeanette Winterson several years ago,she said she had no interest in being known as a lesbian poet,whatever that is. She added: If I am a lesbian icon and a role model,thats great,but if its a word that is used to reduce me,then you have to ask why someone would want to reduce me. She said she preferred to define herself as a poet and a mother thats all.

It remains to be seen what Duffy will make of the laureateship,which is something of a work in progress,despite being so ancient.